Everyday Canvas

Today is the First Day...

Prompt:
"Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
Write about this in your Blog entry today.

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Isn't it obvious? Today is logically the first day of the rest of anybody's life. Numerically speaking, that is.

On the other hand, if you really read into it, there is more to this maxim that sounds like a truism. I believe it first points to the potential each new day holds. It also offers hope and positivity, reassuring us that, no matter if we had a number of difficult yesterdays, today is a chance to start anew. From this angle, this saying may be a comfort during tough times.

In addition, the idea of a fresh starts means a growth mindset. That is, our abilities and intelligence can still be developed further with hard work and dedication. To put it another way, resilience and further improvement.

Decades ago, when my younger son came home from the first day of his kindergarten class, he announced, "I've learned enough. I don't need to go tomorrow." We weren't about to let him quit no matter what. So we told him he had to go because it was the law. It seems that this specific kindergarten teacher was a toughie and she believed in discipline from the first day. Later on, when I made friends with her and even helped her in class from time to time, my son changed his mind. He more than tolerated the teacher. He liked her.

I guess I could have gone to the principal right away and changed his class to a different teacher. It might have worked or not. But this experience taught both my son and me to change our perspectives and work with what's at hand. To this day, he is resilient, possibly more so than I am.

It may just be that, at a very young age, he found out that letting go of the unchangeable past and making the best of the present worked better. So, today always offers a fresh start.

And I hope all our todays and new starts turn out to be fresh, wholesome, successful, and positive.